I just spent three hours looking at prom dresses on the internet. A new friend has invited me a black-tie ceilidh dinner dance next Friday night (as–get this–a direct response to my talking about how I tend to fancy Scottish ginger men).

I'm too scared to wear tartan. I can foresee a situation where I'm at this dance and someone legitimately recognizes my £60 internet buy as their family tartan. Potentially mortifying. I think I'm opting for burgundy velvet.

Please stay tuned for updates on this thrilling top news story.

Speaking of Highland clan politics, I was reminded this week about something my dad taught me and my brother growing up. I still hear him say it every once in a while...

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know me to be a pretty social creature. You'll recognize a rotating cast of characters–not always the same faces, no, but some staple figures–that are occasionally willing cameo in my Stories. You'll surely recognize my Berlin besties, for example, in today's #WCW boomerang.

And you'll probably be familiar with the way I speak about intentional friendship.

Similar to any other brand of relationship, friendship doesn’t happen by accident. I've always been a naturally good friend, but I haven't always been as strong at letting other people care for me.

I've been spending a lot of time this week thinking about the present.

Well, kind of.

I have this terrible habit. And, tonight, I felt really called to... not unpack it in front of you with depth and gusto, but just to vocalize it. This will be a short email. I just had this funny feeling it's going to really resonate with you.

A lifetime has been lived since the last time we chatted. Oh my gosh. The time I spent in Kenya was, I think, perhaps, one of the happiest weeks of my whole life. I don't think I've ever actually felt rejuvenated before in my whole life. I do now, though.

My friend Dani explains it a lot better than I can. You know something immense has happened when even I can't really find the words to articulate it.

It's been a slow and gentle re-entry into city life. (See: I'm currently hiding out in my favorite charity café in East London, effectively wearing pajamas, elegantly regrouping.)

After this Kenya experience, I have so many things I want to tell you. I shared a lot of reflections (and pictures) on Instagram as quickly as I could... but so much of it takes time to process, too...

I feel like every email I’ve sent you this year has started with an update on where I’ve recently returned from or where I’m about to fly to. As per last week, I am officially sick of airports and it also means I'm writing too few emails about the present moment.

I also once heard it said that the real tragedy of the human condition is that we spend all our time obsessing about the past or stressing about the future, and we don't spend any time in the present moment–which is the only one that actually exists.

Instead of talking about the future and how to get where you're going in this week's dispatch, I wanna keep it a little real and share some present-day musings. Real-time musings.